Hunted by Shadows
Manhattan, New York The Huntik Foundation had recently defeated the Professor. With his defeat, a new enemy, known as the Blood Spiral, had made themselves known in Europe. The fighting momentarily returning to the Americas, a spectacular sight was seen by many as the Blue Star was formed by the Legendary Titan of Summons, Quetzalcoatl. ;New Beginnings Upon returning from the open window, keys clacked noisily as Jacob Lycos typed out his message on his laptop into the Howling Wolf message board. ---- Lycos: "Dude, there's a second one now, this one's blue." Jairez: "That thing must be bright. It's over my head in Mexico City." Lycos: "Was that an explosion then? What else could it be?" Jairez: "..." Orion: "I see you two have a predicament on hand." Orion: "You should keep as far away as you can." Jairez: "But mi amigo, that was only miles from my house." Orion: "You should run." Orion: "Now!" Lycos: "What's going on…?" ---- Jacob waited for a while with no response. He stood up, pacing a little. It wasn't like his friend, Iago Jairez, to not respond for this long. Jacob hoped that whatever had happened in Mexico wasn't involved here. As he turned around, though, he noticed a man in a dark suit walking near his house. Haha, looks like some college student's playing "spy" down there, he thought. ;The Dark Alleys That's when things started getting interesting, but not in a good way. He heard a thud, followed by a shriek from downstairs. "Mom?!" he called down as he turned towards his door. "Mommy's having a bit of a… 'dark sleep' now, you could say," said a strange voice at the door. Jacob backed up towards his desk as the door was swung open with great force. In the doorway was the man he had seen outside. From the corner of his eye, Jacob saw that his laptop had several new messages. He barely had time to glance at a couple of them. ---- Orion: "River Walk" Orion: "NOW!" ---- The man looked at Jacob, pulling out and aiming… his finger? "Kid, you're coming with me! Poisonfang!" From the tip of the man's finger, a green aura formed, and a stream of green liquid shot at Jacob. Jacob dove toward the side, and the liquid hit his laptop. There were sparks of electricity as parts of the machine faded away and others spontaneously combusted. "What the…?" Jacob barely managed to mutter as he saw what had happened. "You really don't want to do this the hard way," the man said as he slowly walked toward Jacob. Jacob had about two seconds to think. Scary man with sci-fi powers… the window and falling from the second story…? Instinctively, Jacob rushed towards his window and jumped through. Then he saw the ground below. Shoot! He began flailing his arms, but cartoon physics would not come to his aid. And he was falling quickly. "Bubblelift," said a voice in the alley. OK, this is getting weird… Jacob thought. First spies, and now secret passwords in alleys? It took him about five seconds later to realize that he had stopped falling and been safely delivered to the ground. Rubbing his head, Jacob barely had time to think about what had happened. The man who had attacked him was now outside of the house, and a strange red light around his feet began to fade. "You really should just give up, boy!" the man said, barely seeming to have used any energy. The man kept walking closer as Jacob, fumbling, attempted to move back from the man. Sheer shock left him tripping over his feet. "Ropetrick," he barely heard from the alley. As the man kept walking forward, he was unaware of the nearby garden hose beginning to move towards him like a snake. That would be his mistake. The hose quickly wrapped itself around his feet, slithering up his body binding his hands and mouth. Looking toward the alley, Jacob could see nothing - not even a shadow. But Jacob didn't have time to figure out who had helped him, or how. He began running as fast as his legs could carry him, thinking back to the last message he had received on his laptop. Great! My mom's gonna kill me when she sees that! he thought. ;The Rendezvous Jacob had finally made his way towards the River Walk. Had he been more attentive, he may have noticed more flashes of light flying from the rooftops between his house and his destination, or he may have noticed all of the strange, similarly-dressed men along the way. But he did not; his attention was too focused on running. Finally able to catch his breath, he found the sounds of the running water to be quite calming. He continued walking further in, climbing the stairs toward the source of the waters. Having lived not far from the River Walk, Jacob had frequently visited it when he needed time to think or to clear his thoughts. As he was about to stop, a female voice called over to him. "Lycos? I hear you've found something." Jacob looked forward, unsure of how to respond. I'd swear I was dreaming…, he thought to himself. As he looked forward, he could see that the girl was wearing a black hooded sweater and a dark gray skirt. Her hair, appearing to be black, was mostly covered by the hood. Though her accent didn't match, her complexion suggested that she might be of Indian heritage. "It is Lycos, right?" the young woman asked again. "I was sent by Orion." Following her, Jacob wondered how his friend, Orion, could be involved. Jacob only knew the man because both frequented the Howling Wolf message boards to discuss some strange recent events. This couldn't involve what happened in Mexico…? he thought to himself. The woman beginning to walk into the water, Jacob paused. As he looked on, he saw an opening form to the side. The woman still keeping her pace, Jacob rushed forward, turning toward the woman and asking what in the world had just happened as the two walked down a short flight of stairs. He had barely asked the question when he looked around himself. He was in an underground room bordered by several tall pillars. Several large screens, currently turned off, were along the wall across from him. "Welcome to the Council of Light," his guide said. "Rest up for now," she pointed toward a door to his right, "and tomorrow we can get to your questions when Orion arrives. Jacob courteously thanked the woman, hoping he was able to hide the many questions and confusions that were in his mind. He walked in, found the bed, and lay down. Though he did not intend to, he fell asleep still in his clothes and with the light on. Category:Fan-fic issues created by Lhikan634